Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by janrinok on Thursday February 13 2020, @03:34AM   Printer-friendly
from the how-soon-before-queues-appear-at-the-ISS? dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

NASA and SpaceX are closing in on the first launch of humans into orbit from US soil since 2011, when the space shuttle made its final flight.

Although the space agency has not yet said so publicly, NASA is working toward a May 7 launch of a Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station.

Asked Monday about the early May launch date, the director of Johnson Space Center, Mark Geyer, said it is tentative and that no final decisions have been made. The International Space Station and Commercial Crew programs are continuing to consult with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and the agency's chief of human spaceflight, Doug Loverro. "That's the target the two programs have agreed is reasonable, but we're still confirming with Jim and Doug really when we think we're going to launch," he said.

It's therefore possible that the Crew Dragon mission could launch any time from the second half of April through June.

[...]The Dragon spacecraft for the crew mission will arrive at Kennedy Space Center this month and is essentially ready to go aside from a few minor issues. Loverro said as much on Monday during a visit to Johnson Space Center.

"We have some subsystems that are in the vehicle that we think might need to be re-engineered with different kinds of metal, we have a tungsten incompatibility in one of the areas that we want to replace with different kinds of tubing," he said. "It's not major, but it's something that has to be done along the way."

NASA and SpaceX are also in final discussions about additional parachute tests to certify that system for flight. It's likely that SpaceX will conduct two additional tests of brand-new parachutes in the coming weeks to satisfy NASA's needs.

Mostly, however, Loverro said NASA needs to complete its analysis of data from Dragon's successful In-Flight Abort test in January and then complete paperwork for the mission.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday February 13 2020, @06:32AM (8 children)

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday February 13 2020, @06:32AM (#957624) Journal

    Whether that flight will be historic will be decided by history. At this time, the word is inappropriate.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Thursday February 13 2020, @06:39AM (5 children)

    by mhajicek (51) on Thursday February 13 2020, @06:39AM (#957629)

    Respectfully disagree. If they put people on a rocket and light the engine, they will be making significant history, regardless of the outcome.

    --
    The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
    • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday February 13 2020, @12:34PM (4 children)

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday February 13 2020, @12:34PM (#957685) Journal

      f they put people on a rocket and light the engine, they will be making significant history, regardless of the outcome.

      People already did that more than half a century ago.

      Building the first car was historic. Building the hundredth car wasn't.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday February 13 2020, @03:46PM (3 children)

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 13 2020, @03:46PM (#957740) Journal

        The difference from half a century ago is that SpaceX is a private company. Regardless of the outcome, it would be a historic event IMO.

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 13 2020, @09:38PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 13 2020, @09:38PM (#957862)

          How is this different then when The Martin Company, also a private company, was contracted by NASA to build a rocket to launch a human into space 50 years ago?

          • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday February 14 2020, @05:13PM

            by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday February 14 2020, @05:13PM (#958195) Journal

            The difference is that the government is not a private company. The Martin company was a contractor. SpaceX might at some point launch private commercial astronauts for its own commercial (non government) purposes.

            There is a difference. Maybe you don't see it as a BIG difference, but it is a difference. It is a significant development that commercial organizations can find a profitable motive for developing their own space technology -- without a government contract as the only reason to do so -- and launch their own private payloads, and other business commercial payloads.

            --
            People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
        • (Score: 2) by legont on Friday February 14 2020, @03:21AM

          by legont (4179) on Friday February 14 2020, @03:21AM (#958043)

          Do you imply that private enterprize is way below communist one?

          --
          "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday February 13 2020, @08:03AM (1 child)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 13 2020, @08:03AM (#957638) Journal

    Oh, come on. It will be the first private space flight carrying humans on board.

    One of the first confirmations that the oligarchy have enough clout and doesn't need that much from the nation-states to make claim to a place (likely, coveting the first place) in space colonization.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday February 13 2020, @12:39PM

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday February 13 2020, @12:39PM (#957686) Journal

      We still don't know whether it will be historic, or end up as a footnote of history. Only the future will tell.

      I do not deny that it has the potential to become historic. I just say that it is too early to tell. There are very few events where we can tell right away whether they will be historic.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.